Cream Puffs
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Tsp. Sugar
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Cup Flour
4 Large Eggs
Lemon Curd
Lemon Zest from 6-8 Lemons
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice
6 Eggs
1/2 Cup Butter
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Cup Whipping Cream
Cream Puffs
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine water, butter, and salt in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and bring to a rolling boil. Once mixture is boiling, add flour and turn down heat to medium/low. Stir continuously with a spatula until moisture is absorbed and mixture forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the pot.
Remove from heat and stir for several minutes to cool down the mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring very well after each addition until mixture is smooth and velvety.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag (or to a large Ziploc bag with one corner snipped) and pipe onto prepared baking sheets by mounds about 2” wide by 1” tall, spacing each mound at least 1 ½ inches apart. Lightly dampen your fingers with cold water and gently press down any peaks on the pastry mounds.
Bake at 400˚F for 20 minutes. Without opening oven, turn off it off and leave the cream puffs in for 30 minutes.
Lemon Curd
In a medium (2-quart) saucepan, whisk together the sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt. Set the pan over another pan with water (to create a double boiler) and set on low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened enough to coat a spoon (about 10 minutes). Take off the heat, add the butter all at once and whisk until melted and evenly incorporated. Pass the lemon curd through a fine mesh strainer to remove the lemon zest, if desired. Cover and refrigerate until cool and thickened, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.
Whip cream to stiff peaks and then add lemon curd. Put mixture in bottom half of cream puff.